Scones bring to mind something akin to a slow-paced and leisurely ambling sunny afternoon with time for a visit to the local tea shop or maybe a hour or two on the porch with a friend who happens to like to bake. Perhaps there’s a can’t-put-it-down novel to read while you nibble and sip or a string quartet playing in the next room… (Sigh, sigh.)

As my family well knows, there comes a day in November (December is just too late) when I do nothing but bake cranberry bread. We have it for Thanksgiving morning breakfast, take a loaf or two to friends, and then have one squirreled away in the freezer for Christmas morning as well. I make a fun production out of the day (no other activities, favorite music on, microwaved lunch) and have nearly an assembly line in the kitchen so that loaf after loaf is mixed individually and baked on the center rack. It does require a number of pans, but I’m good at finding extras at Good Will or splurging on a great pan with a Williams-Sonoma gift card. I also bake this bread in coffee cupsfor large size muffins or in tiny pans as little gifts for special folks.

Apilco (French porcelain)–all their tableware is oven-safe.

Here’s what the production line entails:

Grease and flour all the pans

Finely chop all of the cranberries (fresh or frozen) at once by hand or in food processor. Then: clean the food processor or board well; the red will color the bread you’ll mix or stain the board.

Peel the oranges and chop finely all of the peel in the food processor or by hand on the board.Of course you can grate it using a rasp or metal grater, but I think it’s too fine that way.

to which children love becoming addicted. (Also adults like me. My kids are long gone and you see what I’m up to.) The story involves a fabulous cranberry bread recipe, for years kept secret, and an unscrupulous special someone who appears to want to steal it. Of course, all’s well that ends well, and the Devlins went on to write all kinds of other books about cranberries…. The book itself is again available (was out of print), but I found a couple of first edition copies at the Good Will this fall for $1.99. I can’t locate it as an ebook; maybe you can. The library will definitely have copies, but check yours out early and write down the recipe!

While I occasionally make a loaf with or without nuts, add a few tiny chocolate chips, or combine the recipe with one for bananas or apples, generally I make this bread with just cranberries.

The other day when I was buying the ingredients, the clerk asked if I was making cranberry bread–to which I replied a large, strong, hefty, happy, YES! She wanted my recipe and today I took it up to the market and left it in an envelope with her name on it:

I will probably post the Cranberry Bread sometime soon, but just in case I don’t– here’s the recipe, which is based on the bread in Harry and Wendy Devlin’s book CRANBERRY THANKSGIVING-a fun Thanksgiving children’s book.Enjoy!

Cranberry Bread

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.Grease well and flour one 9×5 loaf pan.

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In a large bowl, mix together:

·2 cups unbleached white flour

·1 cup white sugar

·1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

·½ teaspoon baking soda

·1 teaspoon salt

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Cut into the flour mixture, using a pastry cutter, two knives, or even your fingers,*

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·¼ cup (half-stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces

In a separate small bowl, beat together well:.

·¾ cup orange juice

·1 egg

·1 tablespoon grated orange peel

Pour orange juice mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined.Do not over mix. Gently stir into the batter:

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·1 ½ cups finely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

·½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts, optional

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Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake about 70 minutes or until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean.Cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing from pan.Cool completely on rack before cutting. (Wrap well in aluminum foil to freeze up to 1 month.)(Makes good muffins—bake @ 400 F 15-20 minutes.) .

*Can use food processor, but mix cranberries/nuts in by hand.

Involving the Kids: Just do it! Don’t worry about the mess or how much time it takes. Just do it!

Little ones are great at collecting ingredients, greasing and flouring pans, measuring, mixing, and checking to see if the bread is done. Do the chopping yourself (if you’re doing it by hand) unless your older child already has good knife skills. Cranberries are not easy to chop–they keep rolling around, though the job isn’t terribly time consuming.If you have a food processor or manual chopper, this is the time to use it.

A bread for Jacque Franklin, who broke bread for me so many times. Thank you and be well, my friend.

Before the quick bread post, click on the link below to send a Mother’s Day Card that will work toward ending hunger… from THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME–BLOGGERS AGAINST HUNGER. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, FRIENDS…

But, when I mentioned to him (before he tasted it) that I was working on a recipe for prune bread, he made a face, rolled his eyes and laughed. Sometimes, we never escape third-grade humor.

I don’t cook a lot with prunes, but have remembered a couple of great recipes lately…one was from THE SILVER PALATE. I want to say it was Chicken Marabella and it was famous. The other is a pork roast with prunes that’s to exhale repeatedly over. French recipe. OOOOh. It’s lovely. So different. So smooth. So company friendly. Reheats like a champ over the weekend after a Friday night dinner party.

Back to the bread. I made this bread when I was working on an article called, “Quick Bread 101,” in which I attempted to work out a basic quick bread recipe that let you add whatever you had on hand …say bananas, apples, blueberries, etc. I think I got it right, but this variation is my absolute favorite. It would be a sweet Mother’s Day gift, a great addition to brunch.

I’ve been gone a few days to a funeral, so thought it was a good time to bring out the prune bread recipe and share it on the blog. If you tried it from examiner, sorry. I have re-written the recipe specifically for prunes. It makes stuperous muffins!! (stuperous is my word for something between stupendous and super)

Alyce’s mom and nephew Michael…..

Prune Nut Bread

makes 1 9x5x3 loaf

1 c prunes, chopped

1 1/2 c orange juice

Simmer chopped prunes in orange juice for about five minutes. Let cool slightly.

4T melted butter, cooled, or canola oil

1 egg (you might want to use 2 at altitude)

Mix cooled butter/oil and egg and add to orange juice and prunes.

Set aside.

21/2 c unbleached flour

1 c sugar

3 1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 c chopped nuts

In a large bowl, mix well all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until well-mixed.

Spoon into greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake about 50 minutes until bread is firm to the touch, is pulling away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Let cool in pan 5 min. Bang pan on counter or board and turn out onto rack to cool completely before slicing. Keep well-wrapped on counter for 1-2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Can be made into muffins. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake at 400F 15 min. Turn out on to rack to cool.

TWO-DOG KITCHEN AND AROUND THE ‘HOOD

As I write, Friar Tuck is over at Dr. Bill’s getting a little nip and tuck done to raise his voice. Yes, Tucker’s getting neutered, but, you know, it had to happen. I apologized ahead of time because he’ll be a little groggy afterward.

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(Below: Later this afternoon……Poor baby)

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Our sour-cherry tree in bloom. Pie cherries will be ready about the fourth of July. Come pick before the birds get them all. If we get up early to bake before the heat comes, we can have pie for the holiday.

Sing a new song; bake a new bread;

Happy Mother’s Day!

Alyce

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In Memorium…Carol Curtiss..The Quintessential Lutheran Party Girl..

God, Love Her!

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